I have a relative just starting as executor for a friend. He died a month ago, early 70’s, no kids, never married.

He passed fairly unexpectedly, a good amount of assets, two houses, camp & a few 100 acres of property. He had a fair amount of personal property, but he also gave the impression his financial picture was better than reality.

He has an older will, signed & notarized, then more recent changes. There was ostensibly some verbal desires. He also had a fair amount of loans on properties. Of course, if locked in at 2.75%, why pay it off.

I think now there is already someone contesting the will. One other thing, this individual put another as beneficiary on some IRA accounts decades ago, never changed it. Their relationship changed, went south, but that person is still there. It’s likely to be an easy 1.5 million for that person.

If one can plan accordingly, best to give it all away ahead of time.

The requirements for making a valid will can be quite technical, and the penalty (to your heirs) if you screw it up can be high.

Keep looking for a lawyer you can afford. Form-builder wills will work just fine unless they don't, and, alas, you don't know the difference between a valid and invalid will. I am a lawyer, as you probably know, and I wouldn't even write my own will. It is a specialized practice.

Also, state laws can vary quite significantly, so don't pay any attention to anything about states other than yours.

I am not a lawyer but have had to be personal representative for two family members. One had properly prepared, and the other either had no will or if he had one, he didn't let anyone know about it, so in that case I had to be 'named' personal representative under the process for 'intestate' situations (i.e. no known will) and only then after that slow process did I have to deal with probate and settling the estate.

Some thoughts based on that...

1) In addition to property-related things, a proper will also lay out who you would like to run your estate (be your estate's executor/personal representative/etc.) This should be discussed and agreed up front with that person/persons and not be a surprise.

2) As noted in many posts above, get an estate attorney who practices in your state involved in writing the will, and follow their advice as to storing it, etc.

3) After the will is done, make sure the person/persons named as executor/personal representative knows where you put the will and how to get at it after you're no longer in the picture. It does no good if nobody knows it exists, can't get into where it's stored, or can't find it.

I charge less than half that for a simple will. Find a new lawyer. Most of the online wills I’ve seen aren’t valid.

I, too, am a lawyer and I certainly did not write my own will.

I chose to engage a lawyer who did that kind of work because I wanted to make sure the directions in my will were followed.

I have heard a number of horror stories, over the years, from other lawyers where someone used a form off the internet to make a will on the cheap.

Bob